Record labels, in their continuing fight against music pirating, have taken aim at an audio-ripping website that undercuts the legal purchase of music. Several major music labels, including Universal, Capitol, Warner Bros, and Sony, have filed a lawsuit against the website Youtube-mp3.org (“YTMP3”) alleging that the site is responsible for direct, contributory, and vicarious [...]

This is the digital age of music. From hip-hop and R&B to techno and dancehall genres, artists more frequently create music using programs rather than people. Even artists who create music using traditional acoustic instruments frequently convert their sound to electronically marketable media. The result is an immense collection of intellectual property. Accordingly, artists would [...]

“I was high and drunk.” Not always the best thing to admit in a deposition, but in the recently released deposition videos from the “Blurred Lines” trial, Robin Thicke did just that. With the case heading towards appeal, the video footage was released Monday of both Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ depositions. While transcripts [...]

Earlier this month, presidential candidate Donald Trump received a cease and desist letter on behalf of Aerosmith frontman Stephen Tyler demanding that Trump stop using “Dream On” at campaign events. The letter sought to disclaim any political endorsement by Tyler, stating in part, “We are unaware of any public performance license granting Trump [...]

Amidst many reports of Survivor suing Kim Davis, a county clerk in Kentucky, for unauthorized use of their hit “Eye of the Tiger,” they have yet to file a lawsuit. However, Survivor could have a valid claim of unauthorized use against Davis.

U.S. District Court Judge David L. Bunning ordered that Davis be jailed [...]

Beijing won its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics last week, but since then, “The Snow and Ice Dance,” one of the 9 official songs Bejing used for its campaign, has been questioned for plagiarism. Some Internet users and media believed that the song is substantially similar to “Let It Go” [...]

Taylor Swift removed her entire music catalogue from Spotify. A few months later, Jay-Z bought a Swedish music streaming service for $56 million. If streaming services and record companies didn’t rush to the war room, it wasn’t for lack of notice. Clearly change was coming.

The Wu-Tang Clan’s latest—and perhaps last—collective musical endeavor has been six years in the making, will be sold exclusively to one (very wealthy) buyer, and will only be released commercially after 88 years. Anyone reading this now will likely never see that day. Why such extremes? “Art is extreme,” group leader RZA says. “For [...]

Pandora had long thought it could use pre-1972 recordings free of charge, but the rock band The Turtles are trying to prove them wrong. Last week, Judge Philip S. Gutierrez denied Pandora’s motion to dismiss. This is not the first time the signers from the Turtles, suing as Flo & Eddie, Inc., have been successful against [...]

Copyright law and popular music can sometimes appear to be strange bedfellows. The Founders were not likely to have intended this tension, given the fact that “promot[ing] the . . . useful Arts,” is followed by a phrase that limits the exclusive right to use, only “securing [it] for limited Times to Authors and Inventors.” [...]